Stumbled in the Darkness
by Queen Sixsix VI
Summary: When a vampire kills a young club girl, he gets himself into more trouble than he had ever expected. This is not an average vampire story. Please review if you read it so I know you read it. It is okay if your review is just one word like 'seaweed'.
1. Chapter 1: Humans

**Chapter 1: Humans **

She stumbled in the darkness, walking into a wall. There was an expression of absolute horror on her face and she pressed herself into the corner like she wanted to dissolve into it. Her mouth was open but she was too scared to scream. She just let out a pathetic little whimper.

How cute was that?

Humans are so entertaining. But I was hungry, and I could not afford to play with my catch any longer. I extended one hand slowly toward her neck. She let out another whimper as my pale fingers closed around her easily. Then I pulled her up toward me and barely pressed her neck to one side, revealing her unclothed shoulder.

It was only when I sank my teeth into her beautiful soft flesh and tasted her warm blood that she let out a dying scream. It started out loud and high pitched but the more I sucked the more it faded to that of a dying animal. Which she was, technically.

Her last whimper was gorgeous, full of surrender.

Then her limp body fell back into the corner. Her skin was empty and sickly. She looked like a doll. Her eyes, full of mascara, eyeliner, and green eye shadow were devoid of all the life she used to possess. Her lips were curled and the lipstick made them look horrible. She was thinner than she had been before, and I think she would have been proud considering she had probably been starving herself for the past month with a goal of this thinness in mind.

Ah, the foolishness of the humans.


	2. Chapter 2: Life

**Chapter 2: Life**

Now came the most boring part- disposing of the body. I always try to think of new and interesting ways to go about this. This time, after washing her body, I got out my knife and began to cut of her limbs. I chopped her head off and her body in half. I wore gloves the whole time.

Then I went out and dug a pit in the forest, put the remains of her body in a bag and dumped it in the pit. This was a normal crime, it could easily be she died of blood loss (which she did.)

What a pain. Just for one meal I have to go through all this trouble. I let out a sigh. By now, it was morning, and the sun was rising red, chasing out the darkness with bright colors. I looked around.

The forest was beautiful. Birds were waking up and beginning to sing. The air smelled fresh. Leaves on the trees were getting a reddish tint, but some of flowers were still blooming.

I had nothing to do, so I just started off in whichever direction looked pleasantest. That was to the hills. They were covered in green grass and beautiful flowers bathing in the morning sun. To one side of me, as I began walking, the sun was rising, and on the other side night was still fighting the rays of light for its place in the sky.

It was not a cloudless day, but that only made it more beautiful. I love the clouds turned shades of pink and purple from the sun.

I walked until I was bored and the sun was right above me. The landscape had barely changed, except the mountains that had seemed very far in the distance when I had started were getting closer. Then I lie down in the grass, which was so high no one could see me from far away.

I can not sleep, but I can get close. And with the warm sun on me, I was pretty damn close. And it was kind of nice, being able to relax. Some might pity me for not being able to sleep, or dream, but it is a whole other experience being able to always be aware of your surroundings.

Because, I mean, when you sleep, you lose track of everything around you. You can not hear the birds chirping and the wind and the animals, or feel the texture of the grass and the sun and the ground.

After lying like this for a while, until it was sunset, I went to the forest to hunt. I decided to try and catch an owl.

This is how exciting my life is. I spend all day walking or lying around, sometimes I just watch television in a hotel or something, and then at night I go out and try to catch something. I never eat it, but I enjoy the challenge.

Where am I? I don't even care. I won't be there for long anyway. I guess, if you really want to know, right then I was probably somewhere in Alaska. But that is just my guess.

After so long of such a boring life, nothing really matters anymore. Permanently in a depressed, dream-like stage, each day feeling like a year and each year feeling like an hour, every second pushing me closer to insanity. That is how I lived my life. It was not even living, really.


	3. Chapter 3: Mirror

**Chapter 3: Mirror**

It was when I looked into the pool of water that I realized my life needed a change. It had been more than a few years since I had bother to look at my reflection, I am not quite sure what spurred my movement that day, but when I saw a puddle, I bent down and stared at myself.

What I saw did not please me. I had hollow cheeks, and my skin was as pale as snow. My eyes were sunken and had blackish rings under them. I looked like I was a human who had not gotten any sleep for five days.

I also looked like I was wearing eyeliner. My purple-pink eyes stood out brightly. My lips were thin and the color did not differ much from the rest of my skin. Limp purple-black hair fell down to my eyes and my shoulders. It was dirty and had no shine.

It was not like I never took showers. But I was sure I had not looked so much like a corpse last time I looked in the mirror.

I looked pretty much homeless in my torn black suit-style coat and black jeans with a plain black shirt. My shoes- I looked down and realized I was not wearing any. Now I realized why that person had tried to give their spare change to me!

I had no bags, for I never needed really anything except my knife, which I kept in my pocket.

I decided I needed a change. I don't know why, but something told me I could not keep on going like this. So I decided to walk to a city. Only problem was, I had no idea where a city was. And so, for the first time, I had to ask a human.

Since I was right next to a road, I decided to wait for a car to drive by and then ask them. It took a while, but after being incredibly patient (one of my specialties) a small green car finally drove by. Okay, now what do I do again?

I remember a movie I saw and stuck out my thumb. I think I did it right considering the car pulled over to a stop.

A young man rolled down the window and stuck his head out. There was a girl sitting next to him with a frightened and untrusting expression on her face.

Okay, now how do you talk again?

I cleared my throat awkwardly. It had been a while since I had tried this…

Luckily, the guy saved me. "Where are you going?" He said.

"To… va… city?" I said. I had completely forgotten how to speak.

"That's where we are headed." He said, laughing, I think at my English, "Get in."

I opened the car door with only a little bit of difficulty. Then I sat down on the leather seat. There was some sort of strap thing next to me, but I had no idea what it was so I did not even touch it. Meanwhile I looked around and took in the car. The scent of fast food floated around.

I looked at the girl in the passenger seat. She looked strangely familiar. I saw how she was wearing her strap and then I remembered. It was seat belt. I buckled it.

"So, where are you from?" The guy asked.

"I am from… Alaska." I said, saying the first place that came to mind. My voice sounded scratchy and strange.

"Oh," The guy said, "I'm Michael. What is your name?"

Name… Name… I did not have a name! Okay, pick a normal guys name… I didn't know! Just then we passed a sign by the road for a plant shop. It said 'Nightshade- 25 OFF!'

"My name is Nightshade." I said, making a mental note to find out what that was.

The guy snorted with laughter. The girl just kept looking straight ahead. It occurred to me that maybe I was making a fool of myself, but then the girl looked at me, finally. Her expression was full of pity.

"My name is Garnet," she said. I am pretty sure she thought I was homeless, too. "Are you in school?" She asked.

"No." I said bluntly.

"Do you have a place to stay?" She then said, "We could drop you off at the shelter."

I tilted my head and made eye contact with her. She looked away immediately and then shot an accusing look at the guy next to her. I don't think she wanted to pick me up.

"No, could you please just drop me off at a store with clothes?" I asked politely, and I am pretty sure she understood me.

"There are a lot of those out there," Michael said, laughing. Garnet elbowed him.

"Just drop me off at whichever one you feel like." I instructed.

"Ohh-kay!" Michael said deviously.

The rest of the car drive was pretty quiet, until we got to the city. I really can not tell you how long it was because I had no sense of time. As soon as we were in the city, Michael pulled up in front of a women's clothing store.

"Okay, this is our stop." He said, laughing maliciously. Lowering my head, I prepared to get out, which only provoked more laughter.

"Wait," Garnet said, "You can just go to that store right across the street." She directed me to a Nordstroms.

I nodded at her gratefully and got out of the car. As the two drove away, I could see her reproaching him.


	4. Chapter 4: Registration

**Chapter 4: Registration**

For new clothes, I chose a black trench coat, a black t-shirt, a black collared shirt and a black hooded sweatshirt, plus four pairs of jeans, a pair of black tennis shoes and some black boots. Don't even ask how I got them. All I can tell you is it did not cost me anything.

Then I got a room in a hotel. I took a shower and I put my new clothes on. Then I looked in the mirror. Maybe I looked just about the same, but there was something a little younger about me. Now I looked like a depressed, suicidal 16 year old.

Suddenly what the girl in the car had said about school came back to me. Maybe I could go to school. What better did I have to do? I am sure I could make it.

The next day I walked around the city until I found a high school. Then I walked in. There were a bunch of kids there, and I think it was Monday. I went in through the front gates and I saw a sign above the door that said 'Office'.

As I opened the door, a stern looking, overweight woman greeted me.

"Class is starting, you better get going." She said.

"No, I don't go to vis school." I answered, "But I was wondering how to register. I am 16 years old."

"Well…" She began…


	5. Chapter 5: High School

**Chapter 5: High School**

I wish I could tell you how I got in, but I really can't. I guess I have a little bit of selective memory, and even a vampire's brain can't hold that thousands of years of memories. You have got to learn to give up some things.

Anyway, one thing that remains clear is that Monday I walked in to that gate with the horde of students I had seen before. I was wearing my new clothes and I had a new black backpack, filled with supplies. I had found out that it was early in the school year, which was good.

My first period was science. I already knew everything we were doing, so it was relatively easy. Math was the same deal, and I am just about the expert on history. It was only Literature that I actually found relatively interesting. We were reading a book I had not read before, considering last time I was in school it had not been written.

I had Garnet in math, science and PE. I could tell she recognized me considering she gave me a surprised and kind of congratulatory smile. At lunch, I decided I would talk to her. When she sat down I sat down next to her.

Again, she looked surprise. There were other people at the table, but none of them were Michael, so I was ok.

"Hello," I said to her, "I just wanted to thank you."

"It was nothing," She said, looking kind of creeped out by me. Then, to my great dismay, Michael came and sat down next her.

He looked at me with a wolfish grin. Then he bent down and kissed Garnet on the ear. She looked annoyed.

"So, _Nightshade_, I see you cleaned up," He was mocking me, I could tell this time. Again, Garnet elbowed him, but he continued, "And you got some sun."

This time, everyone at the table laughed.

With the encouragement, Michael kept going.

"How long does it take you in the morning to put on that make up in the morning?" He teased. I guess I did look like I was wearing make up.

"Not as long as it takes you to pick out your outfit." I told him. His outfit matched down to the socks.

Michael recoiled like he had been stung. Everyone stared at me like I was insane. They did not laugh like they had at me. Garnet was the only one who looked away.

"I am sure you have more trouble than me. Hmmm…" He said, pretending to be me, "What should I wear, my black shirt and jeans or my black shirt and jeans?"

A few snickered but there were no laughs.

"Yeah, and your choices are the ones your mom lays out for you the night before." I retorted.

At this I hear a hiss form the audience. I wondered whether high school was always like this. Then, Garnet looked at me. Straight in the eyes. Something about her expression, how familiar it was and sadness of it made me feel like I was drowning. Suddenly, I was suffocating.

Before Michael thought of a response I sprinted outside. Outside of the room of very edible teenagers. The weather had changed drastically from before, now it was raining. I kept running, out into the middle of the football field full of mud. Then, for the first time as far as I can remember, I slipped and fell into the mud.

Though the rain was cold, my head was burning. Clutching, I bent down to the ground and shrieked. My vision was dimming, but my eyes were open wider than ever. My thoughts were steadily less clear. I felt like my head was overflowing with boiling hot water.

Then, I was not in the mud any longer.


	6. Chapter 6: Conscious

**Chapter 6: Conscious**

Vampires don't go unconscious. That is a fact. A vampire more like… sinks into their conscious. The only time a vampire is not aware of everything around them, only their mind.

That is where I was, in my mind. Lost in the depths of it. Thoughts soared above around and through me. I pondered every little thing. My body might as well have not existed.

It was during this time I realized what a mess my mind was. Memories from the 16th century were mixed in with memories from the 21st century. In one memory I was having tea with a woman in a corset and then a bunch of balloons floated in followed by a kid in skinny jeans with spiked hair.

Talk about insane, and my mind was actually trying to tell me this happened. I just removed memories like this.

It is only in this mode that I can pick and reject memories and thoughts, and I can actually tell when my mind is playing tricks on me. To think I actually would have believed this!

I noticed something, though. Most of my memories involved people I had killed. I had at least one snapshot of every victim, dead or alive. For some I had whole scenes. There were only six or seven memories I had that weren't of my victims.

Not to say I don't know the story of my life. It's just, there is a difference between facts and memories. I have all the facts of my life typed up on a neat little list somewhere, and the rest of them scattered about in little piles. My memories are more like movies, though. I can remember being there and doing that, what it felt like.

It was a memory that hit me back into my body. The memory of the club girl I had killed. My latest victim. I thought that was probably why it had such a negative effect. And I say negative because I enjoy that uber-conscious stage.

When I was 'awake,' I found myself in the hospital. A nurse was leaning over me. I was hooked up to some strange machines. Machines… something I need to do… with machines… in the hospital… make my heart beat!

I remembered just in time. The machine had been reading a straight line. The two nurses nearby looked just about ready to wrap up my body.

"Omigod!" One of them said, "He is alive!"

A girl was sitting next to my bed. She had short red-pink hair, and she had been crying. I did not know her.

At the sight of my sitting up, she lit up.

"Your alive!" She said.


	7. Chapter 7: Witch

**Chapter 7: Witch**

"I should have known," She said, shaking her head, "But I guess I forgot in all my panic."

"What?" I was confused, "Who _are_ you?"

"Call me Alice," She said, extending her hand, "And you are?"

I ripped off the machines I was hooked up to with one hand while I shook hers with the other. "Nightshade."

"Nightshade, like the poisonous flower? What a fitting name for you."

Poisonous flower? Oh well.

"Why is it so fitting?" I asked.

She just smiled mysteriously and changed the subject. "We should get you out of here. They will want to perform tests on you and stuff."

Then I remembered the nurses. They were sort of cowering in the corner, and I think they were afraid of me.

I got up and one of them protested. "She's right, we do need to perform some tests on you." They said.

"Well, I think I will skip it, especially considering I do not have insurance," I said, and winked at them. Then Alice and I fled the building before they could say anything more.

"So, tell me what you know," I ordered of her as soon as we had climbed into her car.

"You are a vampire," She started off.

"What? How do you know?" I asked. I wondered whether it was that obvious, or whether I had to kill her.

"I can just tell. But don't worry, the average person can't." Did she read my mind?

"What separates you from the average person?" I asked her, though she definitely was not average. She had skin almost as pale as my own, not to mention her pink-red hair, a black mini dress with a wide hot pink belt, fish net tights, knee-high socks with pink flames on them and hot pink ankle length boots. But no matter how humans dressed, they are still human, and there was something inhuman about her.

Maybe it was the way her eyes slanted downward and her eyelashes slanted upward. It gave her sort of a snake-like appearance. And her voice was high and smooth, her 's' drawn out a little longer than average. They were subtle details a human would not notice unless they were pointed out to them, but I am not human.

"Do you really want to know?" She asked with a sigh.

"You know what I am, I think I should have a right to know what you are." I told her.

"But did you save my life?" She asked.

"Did you save mine? I am vampire, remember? I would have waken up eventually anyway."

"Good point, but someone else could have found you. Like Michael and his friends, and then you would have ended up somewhere worse than the hospital."

"Just tell me or you'll need someone to save your life!" I shouted, leaning over her menacingly.

"Whoa. Anger management issues," Alice shivered, "All right, I am a witch."

"A witch? Oh. How old are you?"

"Sixteen, I go to Fig Tree High, like you. What about you?"

"You better not be asking how old I am."

"Oh yeah, sorry." She said, laughing.

The rest of the ride was actually kind of fun, I have to admit. I had fun sitting in the car with someone else, and not sucking the blood out of them. I guessed I would not need to kill her after all.

So the next day, I sat with her during lunch, because, though I did not eat, I enjoyed it. She had two other friends, but she was the only witch in the school. Her other friends were more like- wannabe witches. They were the type that wore makeup and lacey, punk-Gothic clothes. I remember when Gothic was created…

Anyway, none of the others knew what I was, they just thought I was a really tall Goth/emo like them. Probably because I always wore black.


	8. Chapter 8: Teachers

**Chapter 8: Teachers**

All of the teachers hate me. That is all I can say to explain my report card. I think it is because I correct them. I mean, they get everything wrong, especially history. And science- my science teacher thinks she is always right, when she is more wrong than right. And then, when I set them straight, they get mad at me. They hate being proven wrong in front of the whole class.

The only problem is, if you get a bad report card, you have to have a student tutor. Now that is truly insane because I know more than anyone else in the whole school, and then they are trying to tell me things? Yeah right.

I really wanted to have Alice as my tutor, because I am sure that she would understand. But it turns out she is not on the teacher's good side either, and my tutor needs to have all As. So my tutor ended up being…

I practically passed out when I looked at the piece of paper.

My tutor was Garnet. I looked around for her. She was sitting at the lunch table and looking at me. She met my eyes with dread. She probably hated this as much as I did.

I had become the sociopath-creepy kid who is going to come to school with a gun some day and shoot up all the kids who oppressed him. Which I was not planning to do. I hate guns, I can kill a lot faster without weapons or just my knife.

Just kidding, I was not planning on killing anyone. Not planning on it.

But sometimes plans get messed up…

"I got every problem right! I never had a late assignment!" I protested to my math teacher.

"But you never thought about it. You cheated!" He said, slapping my papers against the desk.

"Cheated? I did not cheat! You only say I did because I am smarter than you!" I said.

"Than why did you never participate in class discussions?" He asked, his small face turning red.

"I did, to correct you!"

"YOU FAILED!" He shouted, "I AM NOT CHANGING YOUR GRADE!"

I am sure they heard his shout from all the across the school. He was tiny man with gray hair who always wore a suit that was too large, but he sure could yell.

I was getting sick of arguing with him. Tip to teachers: Don't fail the kid with pointy teeth.


	9. Chapter 9: History

**Chapter 9: History**

"But that did not even happen!" I told her, "They are telling us lies and then marking us down if we know the truth!"

"And how do you know the truth?" She asked, "Your ideas don't have anymore proof than their ideas!"

I sighed, sat back and crossed my arms. "I am not going to swallow this nonsense." I told her.

"Then I will have to force feed you." She said, giggling. I laughed too. These tutoring lessons might not be so bad after all. I mean, she was a lot more fun than I had thought, and I think she was finding the same about me. She definitely did not seem as creeped out.

This was our second lesson. The first one had been really awkward in the beginning, but now we were both more comfortable. I think she was learning more than I was, though Garnet would never admit it.

There was that one moment in our lesson when she leaned close to me. She reached over and then looked up at me and… smiled. A small, beautiful smile. Her brown eyes sparkled.

And that was all it took. My head was full of boiling water. My eyes watered. I fell off of my chair.

"Are you okay?" She asked, leaning over me, "Should I call 911?" She grabbed the phone.

"No!" I croaked, "No, I'm fine!" I struggled to regain my seat, then collapsed again. Garnet began to dial.

"I'm okay!" I said, and mustering up all my energy, I sat back down on the chair. I did not make eye contact with her as I pulled my papers painfully back onto my lap.

"If your sure…" She said.

I was sure. But suddenly something hit my mind.

"Why are you with Michael?" I blurted out, accidentally.

"Because…" She said immediately, then paused like she had forgotten her reason.

"There is no reason," I said, sighing.

"Well, it is fun." She said doubtfully.

"Yeah, right."

"Lets just get back to work." She was avoiding the subject, but I was kind of sick of it too, so I went with her.

The next day I told Alice about it. I told Alice just about everything. I guess I needed someone to talk to, and since she knew what I was already, it made it easier. And she is easy to talk to. She seems to know what everything means, probably because she can see into the future.

Witches are like that. But she insists on being mysterious about it. I guess she also believes in destiny.

"I had another one of those seizure things when I was with Garnet yesterday." I told her in passing period.

"Love bites." She told me as she walked to her next class.


	10. Chapter 10: Truth

**Chapter 10: Truth**

"You have a sister?" I asked.

"Had. She died."

"How?"

"She was murdered. They found her body chopped apart in a ditch."

Ohhhhhh shit.


	11. Chapter 11: Pains

**Chapter 11: Pains**

"But wait…" Garnet said at the end of our tutoring session, "I have something to tell you!"

"And what is that?" I asked her.

"I love you," She said, giggling.

"I told you to stop saying that!" I shouted at her. My head was boiling again.

"But I do! I love you, I love you!" She protested.

"Because you don't know the truth." I said.

But then, I could not stand it. I knew I could not hold her in my arms and I could not stand it. She was so beautiful, with long golden blonde hair swinging behind her. I wanted her, I wanted her, I wanted her.

But I could not have her. Every time I got close to her, every time I knew I loved her and she loved me back, there was that boiling water. It was not fair. It was not fair.

I hate being a vampire!

I want to love more than anything else. I want to love and be loved by Garnet. It is just not fair. Why can't vampires love?

Why must we be the most cursed beings in the history of the universe?

During my next tutoring lesson, I had yet another seizure-thing when she leaned over. And this time she was not leaning over to correct my homework. She was leaning over to kiss me.

"I can't have you…" I groaned, crawling up.

She looked scared.

"I can't have you!" I shouted.

I made a lunge toward her. I was insane, but I wanted her so badly. So… damn… badly…

"What are you doing?" She said, backing up into the corner with horror.

She looked familiar.

"You look just like your sister," I said, laughing menacingly. Then I reached out my spidery hand towards her neck.

"My sister…" She said, choking up as I pressed her head against the wall, "You killed her!"

Her blood was so much sweeter, though, and her scream so much more horrible.


	12. Chapter 12: Poison

**Chapter 12: Poison  
**

I stumbled out. I wasn't thinking, I just left Garnet's body there in my apartment. I practically fell down the stairs and landing strangely on my ankle, but it did not hurt. I was not feeling.

I was laughing. That is all I was doing, laughing and stumbling in the darkness of the night. I was clutching my head, kneeling in the street a few seconds later. I was right in the middle of the street.

A speeding car drove up, honking frantically. They could not stop. I did not move and let the car hit me. It dented in around me, glass shattering. I took my hands of my head and with rage I punched it, sending it flying into my apartment building.

Hate made me stronger. Love made me weaker.

Then I got up and ran. I wanted to see Alice. I was still laughing like a mad man, because I could not cry.

I knew where Alice would be. I went out into the field where she had first found me. It was raining again, a familiar scene. She was standing there, soaking wet in a black raincoat. I stopped running and took wide strides up to her.

She just stood there in front of me with a patient expression on her face.

"You knew!" I snarled at her, "You knew all along!"

"Yes," She said, with a nod of her head, "I knew."

"Why? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her.

"You needed to find out for yourself."

Then I was angry. So very angry. With a sweep of my arm I pushed her into the bleachers. She fell limp and bleeding. Then I walked up to her and punched her in the face. Her head turned backward an I heard her neck crack.

Next I picked up her limp lifeless body. She was like a doll with her perfectly porcelain features. I bent down and bit her. After I had sucked out all of her blood I carried her body away. I walked down the highway that Garnet had picked me up on with Alice's body in my arms.

I walked until I reached a river. It could have been days or it could have been hours. Once I had I took off my black overcoat and laid it across her, then sent her body down the river.

I watched it go. I could have ran next to it all the way, but I had done enough running. As soon as it was out of sight I began to laugh again. I laughed and felt the rain hit my face so lightly but each drop felt like a gallon. It dripped down my face and my clothes and pushed me down, down, down. It dripped into my mouth and into my body.

Suddenly, I heard Alice's voice.

"You're poison." It echoed her last words.


	13. Chapter 13: Heart

**Chapter 13: Heart**

What? What now?

Now nothing. Now just walk.

I did not think while I walked. I went in a straight line. I followed the sun. At least, I think that I did not think. But if I did, it was probably 'right, left, right, left.'

I ended up on the west coast, because, as I found at later, I was unconsciously following the sun.

Standing on the beach, I looked around. The weather was nice. The waves were large and dark blue, lined with white sea foam like lace. They crashed down onto the brown sand and then were sucked back in. Waves always remind me of birds, chained down and trying to escape but every time they are sucked back in.

People were lying all over the beach, girls in bikinis getting tans and most likely skin cancer, couples lying under the umbrellas with their arms around each other, mothers reading or knitting while their children played with the ocean.

It was a quiet, pleasant scene. I hated it.

My knife was cold in my pocket. Remembering it, I took it out.

As I played with it, I thought about my next move. I hated water, and was not planning on walking through it. I could go all the way to the east coast, but that felt too Forrest Gump. I could hijack a plane and fly somewhere, Europe or something. Or maybe Africa. And then I also could stowaway on a boat to who knows where: luck of the draw. I did not feel like deciding my fate.

Or I could just curl up in some ditch and wait for nothing.

But still, none of the options sounded good to me. I can't sleep so if I sit around, the only thing I have to do is think. Which is the thing I least wanted to do. I didn't want to think because I knew what will come up. I needed something to distract me.

I remembered something now. A woman in a Victorian-style dress throwing an expensive piece of china at me.

"You monster!" She said, as I ducked her attack easily, "I wish I could just- squeeze your filthy black heart into oblivion!"

I laughed. "You aren't quite strong enough for that, my dear." I told her.

And then, of course, I bit her.

But that brought up an interesting question; was my heart really black? I mean, literally. It was probably molding by now.

Of course, I could always find out.

I plunged my knife into my chest (it was steel, not wood) and began to cut a slash. As soon as my chest was open I reached into my bloodless intestines until I pulled out my heart. I held it in my hand.

As I looked at it, I burst into laughter again. My head got taken over by another wave of boiling water. The beach had emptied now, people had left even their stuff behind. I fell onto my back into the dry sand. Clutching my hear to my chest I stopped laughing.

I stopped laughing and I just lay there, silently, with my heart on but not quite in my chest. I wanted to be dead, really bad. I wanted to be human and I wanted to be dead.

After I was done, I stood up, still holding my heart. Then, I threw it as far as I could into the ocean.

Like a white stone it sank to the bottom.


	14. Chapter 14: Water

**Chapter 14: Water**

In the end, I decided to stowaway on a boat. It was easy to get on, and I just hid in one of the extra rooms. They still served me as if I had bought a ticket.

I really did not know where it was going and I made a point not find out. I avoided everything that might tell me.

One day, I was standing on the deck leaning over. I did this most of the time, probably six hours a day. I just like to watch the ocean. Sometimes I saw dolphins break the surface like silver bullets.

This day, the sun was high in the sky, lighting up the navy water. The wind was blowing on me, through my hair which needed cutting desperately and my clothes, stinging my eyes but why did it really matter?

It was times like these that I wanted my overcoat. I looked for it in the ocean, like I would actually have a chance of finding it. I tried not to think of the body that had worn it last.

As I calmly and uselessly pondered the ocean, something jumped out, surprising me. It looked strangely like a woman… like a mermaid. I wondered what a mermaid would be doing here where it was so dangerous. She could easily be seen by humans.

She jumped out of the water one more time before we passed her. I could have sworn she was… waving at me. I wondered why a mermaid would be waving at me.

The rest of the boat ride went uninterrupted. It docked at its predicted time on its predicted day. I got off as the only one without someone waiting for me on the shores of Liberia. I stood on the dock for a long time and wished someone was waiting for me. I did not care who, just someone.

Even a vampire likes some proof that he exists.

I spent the next few days sleeping on the ground somewhere no one could find me. During the day I went back to the dock and watched families being reunited until I felt like puking.

Then, after four days, I heard a voice as I stood out on the dark.

"You!" The high, most likely female voice called, "Oh heartless one!"

This got my attention. Who else could she be talking to?

I leaned over the dock and there I saw the mermaid I had seen before. Her hair was seaweed green and her skin had green-blue tint. Her tail was green, too.

"What do you know of me?" I asked her.

"Only that you are immortal, and your heart is gone. I found it on the bottom of the ocean. And what a hard heart it is! Very underused, I must say." She said. Her voice was already beginning to annoy me.

"You have my heart?" I asked her.

"I do," She said.

"Can I have it back please?" I really did not know what I would do with it, but I did not like the idea of someone else having my heart.

"No," She said flirtingly, flipping her tail. For the first time ever it came to my attention that mermaids are, in fact, topless.

It did not really matter to me, though.

"Why not?"

"Because I kind of like it, no matter how cold." She took it out and began to caress it.

"Um… please?" I was getting kind of creeped out, especially since as she petted it felt as if she was touching the empty spot in my chest.

"I think your kind of cute," She said, winking.

Okay now she was really creeping me out.

Then she took my heart and held it to her mouth and kissed it.

I practically had a seizure. Not one of those boiling water ones either. More of a seizure of disgust.

And next she did something even more horrible-

She swallowed my heart.

MY HEART!

"Give that back!" I shouted at her, snarling. I just about ready to rip her head off.

"You have to come and get it!" She said, flipping her tail and leisurely swimming away as she plumped up breasts.

I was not not not going to get into the water.

"Get in!" She said, and as if pull by an invisible force I fell into the water.

I could not swim for the life of me. I waved my arms around like a maniac but began to sink like a stone, into the deep ocean.

I hate water. Vampires do have weaknesses, and though there are some general weaknesses like garlic that apply to most every vampire (with a few exceptions), every vampire has there own specific weakness depending on how they became a vampire. Now I am not going to tell the whole story, because frankly I don't even remember, but when I became a vampire it did involve water, so water is one of my weaknesses.

Now I was drowning. I losing energy fast. The mermaid was swimming circles around me, smiling.

But as I groped for the air, I think she began to realize something was wrong. I heard her message through the water.

"You want out?" She said.

I just desperately nodded.

"Come with me," She said mischievously. What choice did I have? I fumbled my way toward her.

She just swam farther. I could not survive much longer. Figuring that out, she reached out and grabbed my hand. Not because she wanted to save me but because she did not want to lose her prize. She only took me farther down.

I was close to my uber-consciousness stage again when she shoved me into some sort of bubble.

"Stay here," She said, as if I had a choice, and swam away.


	15. Chapter 15: Crowds

**Chapter 15: Crowds**

I'm in a… bubble? It was defended by some sort of magic. No water could get in and I could not get out. AND there was no oxygen, either!

I was a vampire so I guess it really did not matter anyway. I mean, I did not have a heart to pump the blood (which I also did not possess) that would distribute the oxygen to the cells, so oxygen was of no use to me.

It still kind of annoyed me.

Stupid mermaid.

Some time later, the mermaid returned giggling with several more. They were also giggling, eyeing me with jealousy and spouting praises for my kidnapper. I guess I was like some sort of… trophy to them.

I really wanted to get out, but she had my heart so she had control of me. And I was already beginning to think of her as less annoying… oh great. When someone has your heart, after a while I heard you start to fall in love with them.

Well, if I fell in love with her it might be a good thing because I would end up killing her, I thought bitterly.

I could not hear all they were saying, but I could get the general idea. And I could tell they were plotting something. They kept looking at me with quite a scary look in their eyes, the kind that give me nightmares.

Then the green mermaid who had captured me began to approach. I did not like the way she swam up. Then she opened my bubble.

At first I thought this was good, but then I remembered I could not swim up to shore anyway. What was she doing?

To my horror I realized she was getting in my bubble. The other mermaids were cheering her on, and more were gathering. They seemed a little nervous for her, and like they were anticipating something. As their excitement mounted my dread did the same.

The mermaid looked at me a little timidly, like she was planning to do something but she was scared. But then she looked at the urging crowd, who gave her a thumbs up, giving her hope. She swam a little closer, for the bubble was three quarters of the way full of water.

Then suddenly she made a move toward me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and then I felt her lips touch mine. The crowd erupted in cheer. Little did they know they had just encouraged her to her death.

Just like that, her body went limp. I had easily broken her neck. Then I cut her stomach open and pulled out my heart. The bubble was filling with greenish blood. The crowd was frozen with horror, except for a few who had run away.

With her death the bubble disappeared. Many little bubbles floated up. I had managed to take on lest breath of air, and then I began to try and swim up. I looked pretty pathetic, I have to say. I really can't swim at all. The water felt like it was closing around me and I was losing energy.

But I had to make it. I really did not want to die down there. And even vampires can die when exposed to their weaknesses.

I was still clutching my heart. I remembered how when the mermaid had eaten my heart, she got control of me and made me enter the water, though I knew it would kill me. Maybe if I swallowed my own heart I would be able to control myself with my mind even if I was dying.

Yeah it was messed up logic, but remember, I was dying!

So I swallowed my own heart.

Suddenly, I got the strangest burst of energy.

And then I could make it. I pushed down on the water with all my might (and still looked like I was drowning) until I reached the top. Then I pulled myself, soaking wet, unto the shore. There I lay in the dirt, unnoticed, until I felt like getting up. Then I walked to the place I had been staying for the past days. As I was about to enter, suddenly, I was pushed to the ground.


	16. Chapter 16: Cave

**Chapter 16: Cave**

"Owww…" I moaned on the ground. The impact had been hard, my tackler must have been strong. Normally, I would have immediately ripped their head off, but I was having a bad day, and I was sore and tired. So I just lay there hoping they would get off me and help me up.  
These are the times that I wonder why I don't just die. Why exactly, did I want to get out of the water again?  
I think because I was dying and not thinking correctly.  
I lay there waiting and thinking about random stuff, like toast. I had never had toast. I never told anyone about that because I never had anyone to tell, so I kind of forgot about toast completely. It was nice to have the time to think about toast, which I had never in my life tasted.  
The person did not seem like they were planning to get off me anytime soon. I really hoped they had not died on me.  
Then suddenly I realized they were listening to something. Sure enough, I heard a rustling sound form where I had been staying. Maybe that is why They were not talking to me. I think it was really rude of them, still to tackle me and not tell me what was going on.  
I decided, just for the hell of it, I was going to play a prank on them. I still was not thinking correctly. So I stopped moving entirely. I was going to convince them I was dead, and that they had killed me. This would also help me figure out whether they were friend or foe., but I was not thinking of that. I was thinking about how fun it would be to suddenly jump up and scare the shit out of them.  
I could not see anything, but suddenly I smelled something familiar. I don't know why it was familiar, I could not think of it. But it was familiar. Maybe it was something I smelled in the fifteenth century, and that is why I could not think of it.  
I heard footsteps, too. They were going toward my house, and very quickly. Much quicker than the average human. Voices were talking, low and male.  
"Yeah, I went to his great sushi place the other day."  
"Really? What was it called?"  
"Oh I forget, but the squid was superb."  
And the conversation kept going at this monotonous pace. I don't know what language they were speaking because I understand almost all of them, and so I just translate it without thinking. Also, I get them confused a lot. That has gotten me into trouble sometimes…  
Anyway, the people were getting closer and soon they walked right by us (I can tell from the sounds of their footsteps). We just waited there, me thinking while pretending to be dead and the other- well, they weren't really doing anything either. In fact, as far as I could tell, they were not even breathing… maybe they had died on me. Oh, that would suck. Especially since them I could not perform my trick.  
I could do a very convincing dead person, because I had no pulse and no heart beat and I knew how to make my eyes glaze over. I figured out how to look most dead by just looking at my victims. Sometimes, when I was bored, I would practice it.  
Once or twice, I have even used that trick to catch my prey.  
I heard more voices, this time four or five. The same gruff male voices.  
"Catch them?" One said, not one I heard before. I named him Bob.  
"No. And the flower guy was not at the dock." Said the one who had the superb squid. I named him Rob.  
"Yeah, he is not here," Bob said, "We've been waiting a while. Maybe he found out and fled."  
"That would suck." Rob said.  
"The others probably got to him first," A new one said, whom I named Dob (I was not being particularly creative) "That was why we needed you to catch them!" He sounded frustrated.  
"Why don't you try to catch them next time, then? All you were trying to catch was ONE! And you failed!" The fourth one, Tob, shouted.  
"We would not have failed had you caught the group!" Dob said.  
Suddenly, they both began a wolf like growl.  
"Okay, okay, stop it," Bob said, "We'll just put people on alert. They could not have fled that fast, and our guards would have seen them."  
"Why can't we just give it up and say they went to Europe or something?" Tob said, "We can't catch a group of bloody vampires with just sixteen of us!"  
"We hired you to catch them," Bob said, "So you have to catch them!"  
"Just hire some in England! We are rampant there!" Tob said. I was beginning to get the picture. Bob and Rob were human, and Tob and Dob were… something else.  
"Well, lets give up on this one for now," Rob said, "He will probably be the hardest to catch."  
Then they all left, talking about food again.  
The person who had tackled me moved slowly, looking around to make sure things were safe. Then they turned to me.  
"Well, that was easier then I thought it would be," She (I had figured that our from her voice) said.  
I did not move, I just lied there limply like a doll.  
"Come on, get up," She said, "It is safe."  
…  
"Hello?" She said, "I'm you friend. I just saved you."  
"At least I think I did."  
"Are you…?" She said, and poked me.  
I still just sat there.  
"No, your not." She said assuredly, laughing, "Hah, I though tyou were dead for a second. And after all that work. Maybe you just went conscious."  
But then she looked at my eyes. When a vampire goes 'concsious' their eyes are open.  
"No, your not." Then I figured something out. Only one type of person could know this stuff… a vampire!  
No wonder I thought she was dead.  
"Okay, so what are you? Kidding me?" She laughed like this was ridiculous. I almost smiled.  
"Well, let us see how to wake you up." She said suspiciously, but I don't think she realized I was playing.  
My disguise was working perfectly- until then, to my great surprise and dismay, she picked me up.  
I still lay limp, I did not want to give up now, but being picked up… embarrassing, to say the least. As she began to walk, I had to stop myself from turning red. I wanted to see where she was taking me.  
As she carried me, she talked to herself.  
"I wonder what is wrong with him… well, he does not look healthy. And is he wearing make up? Now vampires are not attractive, but I mean, never have I seen someone this bad looking. Does he ever wash his hair?"  
She licked her finger to see if she could wipe off any makeup, and then picked up a strand of my hair.  
"Ewww," She said, "This guy needs to look in the mirror. Well, we don't want him to die of shock."  
Okay, that was it, she was going down!  
I let go of all my weight. I can control how much I weigh, and I had been being easy on her.  
"Whoa." She said, losing her balance, "Someone needs to lay off the candy."  
Then I purposely had my foot fall, and get 'caught' on a bush, causing her to fall.  
"Dammit." She said, shaking her head to get hair out of her eyes.  
Next, I pretended a tree knocked my knee into her face. I was a pretty good actor.  
"Owww…" She said, as a branch 'pushed' my elbow into her stomach.  
At random points in time, I would let go more weight. And I kept torturing her until we arrived at a cave, where she, exhausted and sore, practically dropped me on the ground. I moved just a little so I landed on her foot with all my weight, then my arm flew out and knocked her over.  
I heard something crack as she fell, I think her ankle.  
Then, she stumbled in the darkness of the cave, trying to find a certain place, I assumed.  
She turned the corner, shouting, "I got him, and it was not easy!"  
"You did?" Other voices called out, excited.  
"We were worried about you," One said sarcastically.  
"Oh, you shut up Spider." She said.  
I was still lying there on the stone ground.  
"What happened to your ankle?"  
"This thing-" she said, motioning to me with her leg, "Is just trying to kill me."  
I was laughing on the inside.  
"It looks more like you killed him," Spider said.  
"Yeah, what the hell did you do to him, Willow?"  
"Nothing! I just tackled him and then he was like that. He is not dead, and he is not UC, but he has not moved, as far as I can tell, since then. I carried him all the way."  
"Well, we will see what we can do about it." Someone said, kneeling towards me. Other surrounded me. And, NOW!


	17. Chapter 17: Fight

**Chapter 17: Fight**

I was not going to kill these people. I did not like them, but they were vampire nonetheless. I don't know why but I felt a duty to not kill them.

But I decided I would play with them a little. So as soon as it seemed they were all close, I jumped up and hit three of them down with a blow. They hit the wall and fell immediately on guard. Kneeling, Willow pounced on me as I kicked another one in the stomach. The last one, who had time to get on guard, hit me in the face as I turned to them, swinging Willow who barely had time to latch on to my shoulders into him.

The other three suddenly all jumped at me from different angles, at the same time. I have five vampires on me, all of them strong enough to carry me, one or two the same size or bigger than I was.

I rammed one against the wall as another kicked me in the stomach, then kneed me in the face. As their knee went down I bit it, biting off almost the whole kneecap. Some might call this unfair play, but I'm a vampire, remember?

Next someone punched me into the wall while another came up punched me again, and then another kicked me. I felt like a ball being passed around. I extended my arm and reached toward one person throat, actually managing to rip it out. That hurts a lot, but it does not really do much else to vampire. All I was aiming for was hurt.

All of this went quickly, mush faster than any human could possibly move. So imagine blurred shapes hurting each other. Yeah, I'm not very good at explaining this.

Since it is so hard to kill a vampire, vampire battles can go on for a very long time. A famous vampire legend is when two vampires fought for five years.

Right then, I could have kept fighting for five years. Time did not matter. Nothing really did, and I had nothing better to do. Five years could be the blink of an eye. If vampires had the same brain capacity as humans then it would be like a blink of an eye. But, unfortunately as I was feeling that moment, they did not.

And the other vampires were quite the match for me. It struck me that it was five on one. And they were definitely end up winning. Especially if I kept thinking.

As soon as this thought went through my head, I hit the ground. Two vampires were holding me down. I was not going to get up anytime soon as far as I could tell. It looked as though I had lost the fight.

Just like that, the spirit went out of me. I stopped struggling and just lied there in the dark. The vampires seemed surprised at how easily I had given up. Then someone struck a match and the whole cave lit up.

I could see their faces now. I had ripped the throat out of one of them and they were groping around, searching for it. Where had I put that thing? Another, pinning me down, had a broken nose. The other one pinning me down did not look hurt at all. I don't think he even came into the fight until the very end. I had ripped the kneecap of the girl, Willow. Another feminine figure sported a few bruises.

Looking around at them, hilarity struck me and I began my maniacal laugh. They all looked a little nervous, and I just kept laughing. Laughing at my own pathetic little joke. Then, the one with the broken nose slapped me across the face.

"Shut up you bastard," He said, "What the hell was that for?"

"Fun," I said, a little surprised, "Did you not find it entertaining?"

"You think you're so funny…" He said with disdain.


	18. Chapter 18: Vampires

Chapter 18: Vampires

I had thought it was funny.

"What put you all in such a bad mood?" I said, angrily, "I wasn't trying to kill you."

"Wait, does that mean that this whole time, since I tackled you, you were awake?" Willow asked suspiciously.

"Yes," I said, "Which reminds me, why did you tackle me and why did you bring me here?"

"I did it to SAVE YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE!" She shouted, "And in the meantime you were playing some dumb trick on us?"

"That is low," Someone said, "No, that is BELOW low."

"Yeah, ok, and when did I ask for my life to be saved? When did I ask to be carried into a dark cave with no idea who it was that was carrying me?" I said, annoyed at them. They just have no sense of humor.

"Anyway, could you get off me please?" I said. The cave floor was not comfortable.

"How do we know you won't attack us?"

"Because you know I am a vampire so you know I am not an idiot." I told them.

"Fine." It was, in fact, undeniable reasoning to a vampire. We are awesome, completely. It is vampire treason to say one of us might have an IQ equal to a human's. And recognizing this they let go.

"We are hoping," One said, "That you would join forces with us. But now I see you would rather die."

"Why am I going to die, again? I must have missed that part." I said.

"You are going to die because the werewolves are looking for you."

"Oh they are?" I said, with false civility, "And why would they do a thing like that?"

"This war has been coming for a long time, but you killing that werewolves girlfriend was the straw that broke the camels back."

"Poor camel," I said, shaking my head. I was feeling quite giddy.

"Would you stop fucking joking around?!" A vampire snarled at me dangerously.

"Calm down. I am sorry I killed the stupid camel!" I giggled.

The vampire let out a scream of rage and pounced on me. I hit my head against the rocky ground and it hurt. But before he could cause me any real injury, the other vampires pulled him off me.

"We can't hurt our own kind," Willow said, "No matter what a filthy son of a bitch he is."

"Is he high or something?" The vampire who had not looked hurt at all asked, looking into my eyes. He had short spiky hair that was either reddish-white, orange-ish-white, or yellowish-white. I wondered why orangish was not a word when reddish and yellowish and purplish were.

I guess this was the one named Spider, because his thin arms and long legs, his pale skin and his black and white clothes somehow made him look… in-humanoid. Of course, he was vampire so I can't say inhuman, but he looked less like a human than the rest of us, even me. The two long samurai swords on his back stuck out at the top, above his shoulders, with their black handles, and at the bottom with their black cases. It gave the impression of him having eight arms.

Spider was a very fitting name.

"Spider, don't make fun of him," Willow taunted, "He is very sensitive to that kind of thing."

Willow was a little tall for a human but kind of short for a vampire. She had hair that curled in to little ringlets of varying shades of… green. She was wearing it pulled back except for a few stray strands framing her face. Her skin was not quite as pale as mine, her cheeks had the ghosts of pinkness. She was wearing an off white long sleeve shirt with and open neckline and dark washed jeans. Her shoes were small and forest, reminding me of ballet slippers. Her step was light and silent.

"That reminds me, Willow, we should get to your ankle." The other female said. She had insanely long hair a similar color to Spider's, except it was clearly yellowish white and it fell like a white curtain down to her buttocks. She was wiping a few pin straight strands out of her large, orange eyes. Her face was as porcelain white as Spider's, and she had a little smaller version of his pointed nose. But her lips were full, unlike his, and pink. She was wearing an orange dress with black pants and knee high white boots underneath.

"No, it's fine. It has already healed." Willow said.

"Yeah, but it will break again more easily if it does not get proper treatment." The vampire with the broken nose said. It was already beginning to heal. This vampire had raven black hair, that covered one of his eyes. He was small and light, very thin and bony. His skin was a pale human color. The eye that was not covered was large and black.

The most noticeable thing about this vampire, though, was that he had two feathered black… wings.

They were folded in but I could still see them. It was very strange for a vampire to have wings, most of us don't. I had never seen nor heard of one with wings, but I guessed it was possible. I mean, it all depends on how you were made a vampire.

One of his wings was bent in a strange way, broken. It looked permanent, because there was no visible healing process. There were no bandages on it.

The last one who had been looking for his vocal cord had wandered deeper into the cave and not come back.

While I was examining them, they seemed to have come to some conclusion and now Willow was getting her ankle bandaged. I was just standing in the middle of the cave, while they went on about me. I did not move, just observed. Some shot me glances, wondering why I was still there, or letting me know how awkward my position was. They stepped around me if they wanted to get past, as if I had some sort of disease.

Except for Spider. He was examining me like some sort of scientific specimen. Sometimes he would reach his hand out as if he was going to poke me and then take it back. Once he had walked around me several times he got up close in my face, wearing a scrutinizing look.

After a long pause:

"Are you wearing makeup?"

"NO GODDAMIT I AM NOT WEARING MAKEUP!"

He shrank back.

"I'll take your word for it. Gosh." He said, stalking off into the dark.


	19. Chapter 19: Draft

Chapter 19: Draft

"Okay, why the hell are you still here?"

"What huh?" I said with a start. I had not been paying attention. It was dark outside the cave, and inside too, except for a fire the had built and were now sitting around doing just about nothing.

"Why… Are… You… In… Our… Cave?" Willow said slowly, as if I was stupid.

"Because…" I said, but realized I had no reason. "I feel like it?"

"Just get out," She said, motioning toward the mouth of the cave, "You're pathetic."

"I resent that." I informed her, as if she cared, "And I will stay in this so called 'your cave' as long as I want to." Now that I thought about it, I really did not want to stay in there, but I could not give up to her now. That would be weak.

"Oh yeah, we will see about that." She grabbed my arm and started to pull me away.

I just glued my feet to the floor.

"You are leaving this cave," She said with a grunt as she pulled, "_Right now_!"

"What if I don't _feel _like it?" I said.

"I don't care how you feel!"

The other vampires were watching, some worried, others, like Spider, with an amused expression on their faces. The winged one looked just about ready to help Willow, but then I moved.

Willow seemed relieved, but she was still holding my elbow to guide me. Instead of going out of the cave, though, I went and sat down in their little circle around the fire. Shooting Willow a defiant look, I crossed my legs and put my hands up as if warming them. Everyone else seemed very confused.

"Why will you not leave?"

"Because it is dark and cold outside!" I said in a babyish voice, pretending to shiver.

"You are just…" Willow said, turning red with rage.

"Calm down, Willow," The winged one said, "I will get him out of here." He prepared to stand up.

"No, this is my battle. I am going to get him out of here!" She said assuredly.

I laughed out loud.

"Is this about the greasy hair thing?" She said, "Because I'm sorry. I did not know you were awake! And don't you think you got enough revenge for that already? On our walk? You did that all on purpose."

"I did?" I said, cocking my head at her, "Oh, that is good to know."

She shrieked and pounced on me, clawing. She tackled me right into the fire.

"Whoa! Gidoffame!" I said. I was getting burned. I pushed her off into the wall but like a cat she landed, crouched, ready to attack again.

"ENOUGH FIGHTING!" Someone shouted suddenly, "Remember, as mush as we don't like him, he is our kind, and we are losing this war! We could use as much help as we can get!"

Everyone looked and saw it was the winged dude.

"Yeah, but Crake!" Willow protestes, "He is not helping!"

"That can be solved," Spider interrupted., and then directed his focus toward me, "Help or we rip you to shreds."

Crake gave him an 'as long as it works' shrug.

"Help with what?"

"The stupid war! Have you been living in a bubble or something?" Willow said.

I laughed, "Actually…" I began.

"Okay, we don't need to hear," She said, on second thought, "Do you choose life or death?"

Wars can be entertaining.

"I'll help. But life really is not an option for me."

"Good point." Willow said with a sigh.

"So, who are we fighting?"


	20. Chapter 20: Weapons

Chapter 20: Weapons

"Everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

"Even the humans?"

"Even the humans."

"What about mermaids? Fairies?" I asked.

"We don't know that yet. They have not picked a side." Willow explained.

"What are the sides?" I asked her.

"Humans, werewolves and vampires." She said.

"Well, I guess soon it will only be two sides." I said, laughing. How could the humans even dream about fighting us?

"I would not count the humans out so soon. Ever heard of atomic bombs? They have some pretty high tech shit." Crake said.

I had not thought of that. But then I remembered the Cold War, all those nuclear bombs and weapons of mass destruction almost every country had stored up, just in case. In case of a time like this where there soldiers were outmatched, they were outmatched.

Of course, vampires could definitely build weapons by far better than humans, but we have not really been focusing on that. We never really needed to, because we could always outmatch them physically and that was what counted. And now we were behind, stuck without the resources to build and the time to develop.

We would have to beat nuclear bombs with our bare fists.

This was going to be one hell of a war.


	21. Chapter 21: Us

Chapter 21: Us

"How many of us are there?" I asked.

"We don't really know, probably about ten thousand." Crake said.

"TEN THOUSAND? Who do we think we are kidding? We can't beat the werewolves, there are like three times as many!" And I was definitely not exaggerating.

"What else can we do? It is fight and die or sit around and die." Willow said.

"But the werewolves are reproducing every second!" I said.

"And so that is what we will need to do." Crake said calmly.

"Do you know how hard it is to make a vampire?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Yes." Crake said, "Better then you, even."

"But for werewolves it is just one friggin' bite! That have all night once a month to go out and bite as many people as possible!" I protested.

"But we have all month." Crake said. And then I realized, I had no reason to argue. That was our only solution, and we were all going to die.

"Well," I said with a resigned sigh, "I guess we better get started."

"First, we should introduce ourselves!" Willow protested as Spider, Crake and I began to leave the cave.

I hate this part. Spider rolled his eyes, but Crake came up to me and extended his hand.

"I'm Crake." He said, as we shook.

"I'm Willow," Willow said, "And this is Spider." She gestured toward him.

"I'm Spider's sister Camille." The other girl said.

"And back in the shadows…" Willow said, turning around and yelling, "DARKATE! Come out and meet our new team member!"

I heard footsteps echoing deep in the cold, dark stone cave. They sounded like droplets falling, _drip, drop, drip, drop_, louder and louder. Finally, emerging from the shadows slowly, was Darkate.

He was the only vampire I had ever seen that would be attractive to humans. He had pale but not too pale skin, and his face was thin but not hollow like mine. His eyelashes were dark and thick, and his eyes were practically black, and a little bit like mine in the way that he looked like he was wearing eyeliner a little bit, but less fake.

I say this about his eyes, but really I should be saying eye. I don't know what the other eyes looks like, as it is covered by his blue-black hair. It spiked out in every direction and long bangs covered his left eye. His clothes were not very remarkable, a black shirt and skinny jeans or something along those lines.

Really, the only reason he would be more attractive to humans is because he looks more like a human. Humans like people that look like they do- they like the average human. It is in their DNA, to like people with full lips, clear skin, and bright eyes. And Darkate possessed all of these qualities. He looked healthier than the rest of us, in human terms. He was probably the youngest vampire there.

Shaking his head to get hair out of the eye that was not covered, he lifted his hand. "Hey." He said, coolly.

What a moron. He is so full of himself! I hate people like that. I definitely do not like him.

Willow interrupted my hatred with, "So, aren't you going to tell us your name?"

Oh great, I had to think of a name. I could just use Nightshade again, but I had found out that was some sort of flower. I could not think of anything else, though. I could take the name of that guy, Garnet's boyfriend, but I hated him too much. I knew names like Napoleon, but that would be kind of weird.

"Yes, I am going to tell you my name," I said. I always believed in answering the question that was asked, because I found it quite annoying when people assume that they know what question you are asking when you are asking one entirely different.

"My name is… Nightshade," I decided with a sigh. I could live with the name of a flower. And I think the flower is purple, too. Purple is my favorite color.

"Okay, Nightshade," Willow said, "Let us explain this war for you."

I nodded, willing her to go on.

"First of all, it is all your fault." She said, bluntly.

I recoiled, gesturing to my chest. "_My_ fault? How do you figure?"

"Well, I guess not_all_ your fault." Willow corrected, "It had been coming for a while, but when you killed the werewolf's girlfriend, that was when it started."

"Werewolf's girlfriend? Since when…" I said, but then remembered. Garnet's boyfriend, whatever-his-name-was… He was a werewolf! Of course! I knew I did not like him.

"Yeah," Willow said, "Turns out werewolves are pretty defensive. So then they started a war on vampires. And plus that incident with the car, they found Garnet's body, and the humans finally remembered our existence, and decided we were dangerous and needed to be killed."

"So that part with the humans is all your fault," Crake interrupted comfortingly, "You just had to get mad and screw the rest of us. The pictures of you were all over the newspaper."

"Well, actually, you could not really tell it was you, it was more like a thin, tall male figure causing a lot of damage and hurting innocent bystanders. So I guess anyone who had ever met you could have known…" Willow teased.

"Well," I said, trying to think of a good comeback and failing, "Um… Moo!"

Everyone then looked at me with confused expressions.

"Okaaaay then," Willow said.


	22. Chapter 22: Plan

Chapter 22: Plan

"Shouldn't we be doing something," I said, after an awkward silence, "Like rounding up humans?"

"Yeah, probably," Crake said with a sigh.

"We have a plan," Camille said. It was the first time I had ever heard her speak. Her voice was high, smooth and controlled.

"Oh yeah, Camille, tell us what you came up with." Willow said.

"Well, Nightshade has not been included in the plan, but we can find a spot for him." She explained, "But basically, what will happen is, Willow, Spider and Darkate , the sheepdogs, will go get the humans, and bring them here while Crake and I are preparing. Then the sheepdogs will go out again to get more while we transform them."

"Great," Willow said, "So, Nightshade, where do you want to be?"

"I will be with you." I said.

"So you want to be…?" She said, prodding me.

"So I want to be… a sheepdog." I had to force the words out. Willow laughed. I hated her so much.

"Well, you guys can leave right away." Camille said, "Me and Crake have it covered."

"Fine." Spider said, who had been leaning on the wall. Darkate was next to him, with his arms crossed, and also silently rose. We all headed toward the cave entrance, out into the bright sun.


End file.
